A Trio of Demons
by Mishiru
Summary: 3x3EyesYugiohInuyasha Xover. Yuugi has been spotted by some nasty elements, hence Yakumo and Pai's interest in him. Meanwhile, Inuyasha has been smelling some familiar scents, including one he hasn't smelled in 400 years.
1. Prologue

_Disclaimer: No matter how much I despair, Yu-gi-oh, 3x3 Eyes and Inuyasha will never be mine, so let me wallow in my misery and don't sue me 'cuz I don't have a dollar to my name._

_Author's Notes: _

_This story happens eleven years after the Kun-Lun incident with Howasho/Pa-bo. Bear in mind that I've only seen the OAV and have read only the first six manga. _

_Also, while I do know the overall story of Battle City, I'm setting this story up before that Arc, before Isis(Ishizu) shows up, and before the Otogi Ryuuji(Duke Devlin) incident. I haven't decided to twist all the Yu-gi-oh concepts, such as that of Yami being Pharaoh, and whatnot, but there are some other concepts I have totally dropped. The story will focus mostly on the trios of Jounouchi, Yami and Yuugi, Yakumo, Pai, and Sanjiyan, and Inuyasha, Kagome and Sesshoumaru. Malik and Isis will not appear, in the same way that Miroku, Sango, Kouga, Kikyou, Kaede, and co. and Jake MacDonald, Naparva and Run Pao Pao may be mentioned and won't appear. Unfortunately, I believe this story will really mess with the story-lines of all three series. I sincerely apologize in advance._

_**A Trio of Demons**_

_Prologue_

The Culture Shock was a gay bar in Shinjuku. The owner, whom the employees called Mama-san, was a friend of Yakumo's, and working there paid well, which is why he worked there. Since he passed his University cooking class, he didn't even have to deal with the customers anymore, except through their orders.

"'Wait for me in Tokyo', she said! 'I need to rest', she said! 'Pai hasn't woken up yet', she said! Are you sure she's worth it? I mean, it's been two years since you've seen her, you'd think she'd have hurried over, but no... And then, there was the time she lost her memory, right, just before she told you to wait for her. You spent four years looking for her, only to find her back here in Tokyo. After that, I was just keeping your opening in the Culture Shock on a silver platter, waiting for you to come back. Didn't expect you to stay this long, though." Yakumo was on break, and Mama-san was nagging him.

"There's got to be a good reason why she hasn't come yet." Yakumo protested.

"Yeah. Maybe she doesn't like you anymore." Mama-san snickered.

That was a long time ago. It had been nine years since that conversation had taken place, and Yakumo remembered it more and more frequently.

'Maybe she doesn't like you anymore.' And hadn't his old colleague, Steve Long told him she might not be the same Pai once she got her memory back? Despite these doubts, he'd continued traveling.

He knew where she was: the trick was getting there. The Holy land, where Pai was resting, was not reachable by normal means. It was an entirely different world, accessible only through a Kun-Lun, a dimensional breach. There were many of them all over the world, but many of the keys to the breaches had been destroyed. He had to find a key and a breach. He hadn't had any luck as of yet.

And now, he knew he had to get to Pai as soon as possible. Ling Ling, another old colleague, had warned him Benares was still working toward the resurrection of Kaiyanwang, and to accomplish this, he needed the life force of a Sanjiyan. Which meant that Pai was in danger. Every passing day brought with it the fear that Pai had already left the Holy Land and was traveling to Tokyo, where she thought Yakumo still was, and falling into the blood and death-stained hands of Benares.

It was as he was hitchhiking somewhere in China, one evening, that a black limo pulled up by the side of the road. Yakumo looked at it with a puzzled expression, not believing his luck.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Hop in!" snapped a familiar, impatient voice. Yakumo was jolted out of his stupor by the voice of the woman in the driver's seat.

"Ling Ling!" exclaimed a surprised Yakumo.

"We haven't got all day, you know..." the woman continued.

Yakumo did as she told him, and climbed in the back seat, only to find Pai asleep there.

"Pai!" he said in disbelief.

"We got to her before you did." explained Ling Ling, as they sped along the highway. "I think she intended to stay in there forever, in order to protect you while she roamed the Holy Land in search of something that might turn you and she human again. Foolish. In any case, as we told you, Benares has been unusually active these past few months, especially in Japan."

"How do you know that?" Yakumo asked.

"Meishin went back there to visit her friends from University, and there was lots of supernatural trouble from Domino city. There were lots of incidents of people suddenly succumbing to madness."

"That's not Benares' style." Yakumo remarked.

"No, but get this: Meishin found one of the victims a minutes after the strike, and manage to take a picture of this demon sniffing around." Ling Ling handed her friend a photo. "Looks a bit like an old friend of ours, doesn't it?"

"You're right. But it looks like Benares has nothing to do with this. Why is he interested in these goings on?" Yakumo asked.

"I don't know. Maybe he doesn't like unknown demons working independently from his men. The strange thing is that the attacks stopped shortly after Meishin's discovery, and we're still waiting for the other shoe to drop. Meanwhile, Benares sent a couple of his goons our way, looking for Pai. They made an attempt to steal the Ningen No Zho too. Damn demons. It's after that we decided to go get her."

"Why?" Yakumo asked again.

"We figure she'd be safer in your capable hands, then a sitting duck in the Holy Land."

"So you're getting involved in this too?"

"We can't. It's all we can do to protect the Ningen No Zho. Benares has the Wong residence practically under siege. The only reason I managed to escape is because they don't consider me a threat. We're involved, but there's not much we can do to help. It's up to the two of you." Ling Ling sighed. "If I'd been younger, I'd probably just enlist you to blindly charge in for a daring rescue. But it's time we'd gotten rid of Benares once and for all."

"So what now?"

"I'm taking you to pick up supplies, and then it's straight to the airport. You'll fly to Tokyo, Meishin can pick you up there, and fill you in. She'll drive you to Domino. I believe whatever or whoever Benares was spying on is a key personality I'd rather have on our side." Ling Ling told her colleague. "Oh, and Yakumo? Good luck."


	2. Suspicions

_Disclaimer:Sniff, sniff, WWWWWWWWAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH! Yu-gi-oh, Inuyasha and 3x3 eyes were never mine, aren't mine and never will be mine! Please don't sue me! I'm broke!_

_Author's Notes:_

_This is not happening in Shinjuku anymore. Therefore, I can no longer use Mama. Dang. And he's so entertaining too._

_This is not happening in the Sengoku Jidai. Therefore, I cannot use Miroku or Sango. Since Kikyou is not in this story, assume that the earth-and-bones Kikyou can age like a normal human, in which case she'll be dead._

_It's not specified exactly where in Tokyo the Higurashi shrine is situated, so I took the liberty to make it Nerima, the same district as in Ranma 1/2._

_These characters are mostly based on the manga. Unfortunately, I only own numbers one to five of 3x3 Eyes, and find some of the anime too good to leave out. So basically, Yuugi, Yami, Jounouchi, Kagome, Inuyasha, Sesshoumaru and Shippou are manga, and Yakumo and Pai are hybrids._

_Youki is demonic energy._

_**A Trio of Demons**_

_Chapter 1: Suspicions_

"Two days since we arrived." started Yakumo to Pai and Meishin as they sat in a small cafe in Domino. "And not a clue!"

"Well, it's only been two days." reasoned Meishin. "Besides, all the cases of sudden madness stopped a while ago. And I'm glad for that."

"I sense something." interrupted Pai abruptly. "It's coming from over there." She pointed toward the Turtle Game Shop, which was right across the street.

The store bell rang. Yuugi looked up from his game of Solitaire to see a boy and a girl of his own age walk in.

"Ooh! Yakumo! Look at all the cute toys!" exclaimed the girl excitedly to her slightly embarrassed companion, who was trailing nervously behind her.

"Hello, what can I do for you?" asked Yuugi.

"Ah... Not much, really... We're just looking. Hey, aren't you a little young to be watching the store?" inquired the young man.

Yuugi sighed. "I'm sixteen years old. I just don't look it." he lamented.

"I know the feeling." replied the boy.

"So am I correct in assuming that the girl is doing the looking and you're not doing much?" said Yuugi.

"How did you guess?" grinned the young man.

"I could tell by the sort of nervous look on your face. Can I interest you in a video game?" asked Yuugi all of the sudden.

"Nice try, Mr. Salesman. I don't have a console, and it would be a waste to get one." countered Yuugi's would-be customer.

The girl sauntered over to the counter, an armful of stuffed animals in her arms. "Yakumo! Can I have them!" she asked.

"Pai, you don't really expect me to buy all of these, do you?" Yakumo exclaimed his companion.

Pai didn't answer. She dropped the toys as she noticed Yuugi.

"Can Pai see your puzzle for a moment?"

Yami did not like the way things were turning out. The aftermath of someone closely examining the Millennium Puzzle, even for a short period of time, nearly always ended badly. For example, this rather dim sounding teenage girl might really turn out to be an evil, arrogant sorceress prone to going on bloody rampages. He informed Yuugi of this.

Yuugi was puzzled. Yami had been feeling rather paranoid lately. He claimed that someone was watching him. Yuugi mentally told Yami that he was sure that Pai was nothing of the sort. Yami relented, but he couldn't shake the presentiment he was going to tell Yuugi he told him so later.

"That's a nice pendant. Where did you get it?" Yakumo was asking.

Yami also noted that this Yakumo person was asking too many awkward questions.

"My grandfather gave it to me. He found it in Egypt on an archaeological dig. It's my most treasured possession." answered Yuugi.

"Egypt?" asked Yakumo, looking over his companion's shoulder. He seemed mildly surprised. "It certainly looks Egyptian." the man seemed confused.

Both boys watched Pai as she examined the puzzle intently. She turned it over, looked at it from every angle, felt it all over.

"So what does it do?" Yakumo inquired abruptly. Pai had given Yuugi back his puzzle.

"What does what do?" asked a confused Yuugi.

"What does that puzzle do? Most things like that have some symbolic value, or are said to have such and such magical properties..." Yakumo explained, in a manner that suggested more playful teasing than anything else.

"Err..." Yuugi hesitated, "It grants wishes."

"What did you wish for, then? Money? Fame? Girls?"

Yuugi blushed at the thought that anyone would suggest something so petty. "No, I didn't wish for any of that... But the thing I wished for did come to pass."

"Then you have to be careful what you wish for." Yakumo winked and picked up one of the plushies Pai had shown him. "I'll take this please."

Yuugi told the taller boy the price, and Yakumo bought it. With a wave and a see you 'round, he and a happy Pai, hugging her stuffed animal tightly, walked out the store.

"Well... That was strange." Yami commented, shifting from inside the puzzle to the semi-transparent form he assumed when they were alone. "What did you wish for, anyway?"

"Well..." Yuugi grinned in the air of someone embarrassed. "I wished for a friend."

"Ah." commented Yami. "Yeah, that would make sense. And afterward, you and Jounouchi became pals."

"And Honda joined our circle, then Bakura, and Anzu had always been there, and you were always there too. At the time we didn't know you existed, then I knew but couldn't talk to you, but you were always taking care of me and them as well. I considered you a friend then, and I still do." added Yuugi.

Yami looked at the shop entrance balefully. "But I still say those two knew something." he maintained, going back to the original conversation.

Yuugi rolled his eyes at this. "You're just being paranoid."

* * *

Kagome Higurashi walked into the class, a disgruntled look on her face. She stood by, listening indifferently to the teacher introducing her, and wondered whether Domino would be half as interesting as Nerima. She was half-way through convincing herself it wouldn't when she sensed something odd about the classroom. Something... Familiar... But she couldn't quite put her finger on it... It was something she hadn't felt in some time...

"Kagome, will you say a few words about yourself to the class, please?" The teacher unceremoniously interrupted her train of thought and startled the would-be miko.

"Oh, yes, err... Well... I'm Kagome, I used to live in a Shinto shrine before we moved here, my grandfather, mother and brother and I..." And I love a half-dog-demon I was expecting to see soon but hasn't shown up who crashes to the ground the moment I say 'sit'... That sentence was not a good one to say out loud... But the truth was she missed him. There had been a squabble over the land that came with the Shrine, and she and her family had been forced to leave to make way for some restaurant. She'd warned Inuyasha of the trouble, and told him to meet her in Domino city in the spring of 2003. Both well and Shrine were destroyed now.

She took a seat next to a tall brown haired girl and spent the rest of the class daydreaming... Any moment now... Any moment now, and Inuyasha will come bursting through that door, and we'll argue, and he'll get mad, and I'll probably say sit... Okay, this is getting sad. she thought.

"You look lovesick." commented the brown-haired girl next to her softly and surreptitiously, as so not to disturb the class.

"Am I that obvious?" asked Kagome in the same tone of voice.

The girl grinned in response. "I'm Mazaki Anzu. Wanna talk about it?"

"My b- I mean, the boy I like," through long practice she skillfully avoided the term 'boyfriend', "I told him to meet me, and he hasn't come. To top it all off, I have no way of contacting him, and I don't even know where he lives. I hope he's not dead." answered Kagome.

"Mazaki! Higurashi! Go stand in the hall!" the teacher yelled.

Kagome and Anzu went to stand out in the hall, carrying a bucket of water in each hand.

"You don't... really think it's a possibility..." continued the taller girl, her face twisted in an expression of concern.

"It's been three months since I've seen him. And he's in with a rather bad crowd."

"Three months?" Anzu commented. "He must really be something special."

"Actually, no. He's insensitive, violent, has the foulest vocabulary of anyone I'm ever likely to meet, is impulsive, foolish, and worst of all, he couldn't decide between me and his ex!" Kagome's voice became a crescendo of vindictiveness as it rose to the climax of indirectly mentioning Kikyou.

"Forget about him, then. Anyone that bad doesn't deserve a girl like you." Anzu suggested, a bit freaked out by Kagome's display of emotion.

"He wasn't all THAT bad!" Kagome protested. "He saved my brother's life once." she said. "Despite his flaws, I loved him, and I still do. If only I knew what happened to him..."

"Have faith. If it really is True Love, he'll turn up!"

Kagome wasn't sure whether to take that seriously or not. "I take it you've got someone you like too?"

"He saved me from a serial killer in a fast food restaurant. I was blindfolded, but I fell in love with his voice!" answered Anzu.

How glamorous, Kagome wanted to say. Although really, considering the way she'd met Inuyasha -he tried to kill her because she'd been holding something he wanted- she shouldn't even be thinking like that.

Kagome tuned out the other girl and plunged into her own ruminations again. Tomorrow was her sixteenth birthday. It would be nearly a year relative to her since she met Inuyasha, and three months since she'd seen him. Whenever she did her homework, she counted down from ten to his arrival, only to have her predictions go amiss... Because she no longer lived at the Higurashi Shrine, and the well no longer existed.

* * *

Detention was the bane of any student, and Yuugi had just escaped from it, after an hour of mind-numbing torture. He opened the door to his locker, and found a letter inside. There was no return address. Yuugi quickly opened it. It was a single sheet of white printing paper, on which had been printed the following sentences: "We will blow up the school if you do not come alone to the library straight after school. You have ten minutes starting from the bell ring." Yuugi checked his watch in disbelief. "But it's been an hour since school was out!" he said chuckling. "Gee, if they'd only told me sooner, I wouldn't have kept them waiting for so long."

"Great, now you've made us look like idiot pranksters! It's been an hour since the bell rang." Yakumo complained to the woman whose personality now occupied Pai's body.

"I'm a Sanjiyan, Yakumo, and Sanjiyan never look like idiot pranksters. Additionally, Wu, I was under the impression that it was YOUR idea to draw him out here." retorted the miffed demoness.

"Yes, but I didn't decide to put in some crackpot blow-up-the-school gag! He's probably not going to take us seriously and leave." protested Yakumo.

"A comment a Sanjiyan makes is anything but crackpot." continued the Sanjiyan loftily.

Yuugi stood outside the library door.

"I bet you one hundred yen those two customers you were so suspicious of will be the ones waiting for me on the other side of this door," he teased Yami.

"That's my line." Yami grumbled, "and I haven't got even one yen. I don't know what's on the other side of that door, but I get the feeling it can't be good. Furthermore, I claim the right to say 'I told you so.'"

Yuugi felt worried. Yami had been so gloomy lately. He shrugged off the thought and and turned the handle-

And Yami walked in the library, stunned at the sudden, unplanned switch in personalities. He asked Yuugi, but didn't receive an answer. Somehow, his aibou had suddenly fallen unconscious. Why? How? He then decided to take things into stride, and scanned the room. Ofuda were plastered in every single nook and cranny of the room. The biggest was on the door he'd just come through. But the first thing he noticed, was at the other end of the room, true to his aibou's jibes, their customers from yesterday were, or more accurately, had been, waiting for him. Presently, however, they were bickering.

Even though it seemed that the girl was acting totally different from the other day, and it looked like she had a third eye on her forehead, and the ofuda stuck to the walls didn't inspire him any confidence, Yami felt relieved, and astonishingly calm. He pulled up a chair and sat, so as to wait for the two to finish their argument in a more comfortable position. He needn't have bothered.

The girl noticed him first. "We have a visitor, Subordinate. It's rude to keep visitors waiting." she interrupted.

"Ah!" exclaimed her startled companion. "Well," he said, stepping forward, "My name is Fuji Yakumo, of the Yogeki demon-extermination society. And my 'superior', " upon those words he looked dismayed, "is called Parvati IV. I suppose you're wondering why we invited you here."

Yami nodded. "You assume right. What do you want from me? Why did you draw me out?"

"That's very simple. We wanted to see if you were a demon." Yakumo stated.

"So you could kill me?" Yami raised an eyebrow. "If I was a demon, I definitely wouldn't say so that to self-avowed demon slayers. And I suppose you have ways of telling other than getting me to confess. What makes you think I'm a demon?" Yami's interested was piqued. He'd never met such unprofessional villains before. None of the opponents he'd faced before were so counter-productively honest.

Yakumo gestured to the ofuda stuck to the walls. "These make sure that anyone who doesn't have any youki would have fainted right away. Mind telling us what you are? It would definitely simplify things." replied Yakumo coolly.

"To be honest, I'm not so sure myself. First of all, I don't even know my name, much less my past. I'm not in a good position to tell you so. Second of all, why is it any of your concern?" asked Yami.

"Someone's watching you. He's a terrible being. You're definitely safer with us than with him." Yakumo answered.

Yami frowned. "Are you offering me your protection?"

"We're offering you a partnership. We'd rather have you on our side then on the other guy's." answered the other man.

"But I'm not even involved!" protested Yami.

"Are you a Sanjiyan?" asked Parvati.

"What's a Sanjiyan?" came the quick answer.

"That doesn't explain anything, especially the fact that his youki is like muted Sanjiyan youki." commented Parvati. "That's probably why Benares has him watched." she told her companion.

Yakumo sighed in exasperation. "This is getting us nowhere." he said.

"You have a point there." added Yami.

"I think the problem is his memory. If he knew about his past, he could probably tell us a lot more." continued the man from Yogeki.

Yami started getting annoyed. It looked like his two pursuers had begun ignoring him. Yami wasn't used to being ignored. Underestimated, insulted yes. Ignored? Never.

"It's rude to talk about someone as if they aren't there." he said pointedly.

Yakumo seemed ready to talk again. "Tell you what? We'll make a deal. You said you don't remember your past? We help you remember it, and you tell us what you are once you do. Deal?" suggested Yakumo.

Yami fell silent. He was glad Yuugi was unconscious for this. He had the impression that he'd have to leave Yuugi sooner if he regained his memory, which was something he was not looking forward to. Yami reflected on this for a moment. "Give me time to think about it." he decided.

"How does three days sound to you?" inquired Yakumo.

"That ought to be enough, yes." agreed Yami.

"Alright... In three days, we'll meet back here, then." decided Yakumo. Yami walked out of the library while Parvati and Yakumo started collecting the ofuda.

'Well...' thought Yami at last, when he'd put a reasonable distance between himself and the strange pair were gone. 'That was...' The dark spirit never had time to finish his thought.

'Yami, what's going on? Why are you out? What happened back there?' babbled a confused and conscious Yuugi.

Yami walked out of the library and closed the door behind him. He and Yuugi switched again, and Yuugi once again had control of the body.

'You were saying?...' he asked his darker self.

'Tell you when we get home, Yuugi. It's too long a story for you to listen to here.'


	3. Decisions

_Disclaimer: 3x3 Eyes, Inuyasha and Yu-gi-oh aren't mine. _

_Author's Notes: Wait... I just realized! 3x3 Eyes is dated! It's 1992 at the end of the Howasho/Pa-bo story arc... Oh, screw that, let's say it took eleven years for Pai to come back. I'll change the chapters accordingly. And because Yu-gi-oh and Inuyasha aren't dated, I can just ignore the fact that the first episodes appeared in Shonen Jump and Shonen Sunday respectively seven and five years ago._

_I'm dreadfully sorry for all you people who haven't heard of one or the other of these series. I've got to admit, I made a lamentable attempt at describing all these characters and establishing the story. I'll try and remedy to this as best as I deem necessary._

_Ramble: Yami is a ham. You probably already knew this. In the anime, he's even more so. He's overly dramatic to the point of ridicule. This is also apparent in the manga. In manga six, he does that whole incredibly cheesy 'I'm seriously angry, now, watch me take off my shirt and kick your ass' routine. He doesn't figuratively kick the guy's ass, but his monster fighter kicks the other monster fighter's ass. I hoot appreciatively every time I flip onto that part, even though it was only his uniform shirt he stripped, he still had the sleeveless top with lots of leather buckles on. What do you call that thing, anyway? The S.T.L.O.L.B.?_

_Incidentally, you know the random thug Kaiba uses Obelisk soldier against? The guy with the spiky blond hair and black spider shirt? He looks and is dressed exactly like the thug Yami takes his shirt off for in manga six... I thought this was just an anime mistake, and yet the evil clone is there in manga 18 as well, getting his Magic and Wizards-playing ass kicked by Kaiba... But I thought the Shadow Game Yami played with this guy killed him? At the very least, it would have left a plastic scar. Maybe they're twins. But you'd think that after seeing what happened to his brother, the twin would stay away from super-gamers like Yuugi and Kaiba..._

_**A Trio of Demons**_

_Chapter 3: Opposition_

From the height of his eighth story apartment, Inuyasha caught a whiff of a familiar scent. At least, it seemed familiar, but the white-haired half-dog-demon couldn't quite place it. After four hundred years of life, you tended to forget scents that weren't recent, but he berated himself for forgetting this one: he had the feeling it was important. It was a human woman's scent... Smelled rather nice, too, Inuyasha thought, but through four hundred years of practice, he perished the thought. No. The last time he found himself caring for a woman, she'd gone and disappeared.

Said girl, Kagome was a girl from what was at the time a distant future, who freed him from a fifty year long sleep, when he was pinned to a tree. She had come to his time by way of a well, a passageway between their two times. She was the reincarnation of the woman who had imprisoned him, fifty years before, a woman he had also loved, and whom he believed had betrayed him. That woman, Kikyou, had been a powerful priestess, and he realized Kagome had remarkable power as well. He let himself fall for Kagome, and she came to him one day, and told him goodbye, and it sounded so final... But that didn't matter anymore. He'd gone through the well to her time mere hours after her, and he'd found her home a barren land roaming with bright yellow metal monsters. Those unnatural-looking fiends! They ate Kagome! Inuyasha beat them all to a pulp, but there was no bringing back Kagome. For a few years afterward, Inuyasha had jumped every time he caught an even slightly similar scent to Kagome's, but it was wasted heart pounding. When he finally accepted the fact that Kagome was never coming back, he'd dedicated himself more than ever to his old aspiration of becoming a full-blooded demon, by seeking the Shikon no Tama, shattered into multiple pieces.

There were other scents in the air... That of his older half-brother, the full-blooded dog-demon Sesshoumaru, who for years had been a bitter enemy, who had been constantly fighting him for a sword that he couldn't use, but who now worked together with him in a demon-extermination society. And the scent of Shippou, a kitsune Inuyasha and Kagome had met when he was just a boy, but who now had grown into his full powers. And another old smell, too human to be that of a normal demon's, but too demonic to be that of a half-breed... But that was impossible. At any rate, it bore investigating.

Inuyasha got up, walked inside, and unhooked the red suit from the coat hanger. It was old, an antique. If it hadn't been magic, it would have long disintegrated. It had been with him for four hundred years, and was very worn, but the material was woven out of spun fire rat fur, and was a cloth even more resistant than armor. Before heading out the door, he wrote a note.

"Saw something strange, went out to investigate. Inuyasha." He stuck the note on the apartment door, grabbed the old rusted katana, wrapped it up in cloth, and left the building.

* * *

"Yuugi!" Pai called cheerfully, running ahead of Yakumo, to catch up to Yuugi.

Yakumo bopped his head. Though adorable, Pai was not subtle, and the art of passing unnoticed and acting like you don't know someone was lost on her. Now, normally, Yakumo wouldn't mind, but seeing as Pai and he were walking demon-targets, Yakumo didn't want any innocent bystanders, like Yuugi's friends, to get hurt. Not only had too many of his OWN friends been placed in mortal danger by merely being associated with him, but placing Yuugi's friends in danger was not good for the deal he expected to strike with the boy. The Wu sighed. Well, he had better join the Sanjiyan.

Yuugi was surrounded by friends, new and old. Jounouchi, Anzu and Kagome were there. This was why Yami was not pleased to see Pai. Yuugi himself was mildly surprised. He wasn't sure whether to be delighted or worried.

Kagome sensed powerful youki. Wishing for the first time in a long while she had accepted her grandfather's offer to teach her to make ofuda, she turned around, half expecting a huge demon to lunge for Shikon no Tama fragments she no longer had, only to see a girl and a boy who seemed to be her age threading their way through the crowd after her group. She noticed Jounouchi, Anzu and Yuugi had turned around too, but with none of the apprehension she felt. If only they could sense demons too...

"Who are your friends, Yuugi?" Kagome asked dryly. "Do you know they're demons?" she whispered, as they got closer.

"Yami wouldn't put it past them." Yuugi muttered back.

"And you?" retorted the miko.

"I take people at face value, and I like to give them the benefit of the doubt." Yuugi commented. "They're not going to attack you... I think. Meet Fuji-san and Pai. Yakumo is the guy who offered to help Yami regain his memory."

The aforementioned couple finally caught up to Yuugi's group.

"Pai is so surprised to see you in the street!" Pai exclaimed happily.

"I'm sorry about this." Yakumo apologized. "We should stay away from your friends, Yuugi. We'll be going now." If things turn ugly, thought the man, I'd just as soon only three people were involved than half a dozen.

"But we just met!" whined Pai. "Let's not go yet!"

"You got a problem with us!" Jounouchi protested.

"No. It's just not safe for you to hang around someone like me." Yakumo

"The supernatural attracts the supernatural. Put otherwise, demons attract demons, isn't that right, Fuji-san?" explained Kagome dryly. Lord knew she'd seen enough demons to justify that claim. Even when she hadn't been up against Naraku.

She wondered whether the couple was just trying to get the Shikon shard embedded in Yuugi's puzzle.

"You're not normal, either." Yakumo acknowledged. "How did you know we were demons?"

At this point, Jounouchi was getting freaked out in a bad way. The occult had always spooked him, and the atmosphere of this meeting was starting to feel like that of a horror movie. Jounouchi didn't like horror movies. Still... It was hard to believe Fuji-san and Pai, of all people, could be demons. They looked so ordinary. And Pai seemed too naive and innocent...

"I have miko powers. I can sense these things." Kagome explained. "I've seen my share of battles against demons. I'd like to help."

Yakumo blinked. "Help?"

Kagome nodded. "Look. I know you don't want anyone else involved in your little romp, for whatever purpose. I don't trust you. If it turns out you're not playing it straight, someone's got to protect Yuugi; according to him, people have tried to steal his puzzle before. If your intentions are honest, however, you might need my help. Besides, I've dealt with demons before, and I'm not completely helpless against them."

Yuugi was bewildered. "Kagome... If what you say is true, you know what you're getting into... Why?"

Kagome smiled almost sadly. "A year ago, I found out I'm the reincarnation of a priestess. In a way, it's my duty."

The group turned into an alleyway, which was a bad move. Someone was waiting.

He was an imposing man, tall with a powerful build, dressed in a leather jacket, and army pants. He had red eyes with white slits for pupils. High cheekbones and a long, straight nose lent the man a rather haughty air, though he had good reason to be. He wore a self-confident smirk. The Chinese character for 'void' was displayed in full view upon his forehead.

Yakumo got to the front of the group. "Get out of here." he hissed to them. "All of you, get the hell out of here!"

Anzu turned to run first, but found her exit blocked by a score of low-level demons. Not that it mattered that they were low-level. Yakumo couldn't protect everyone, and Jounouchi, Yuugi and Anzu certainly didn't know how to defend themselves against even the weakest of demons. From the expression on Kagome's face, Anzu judged, despite what she said earlier about not being completely helpless, it didn't look like the miko was going to make much of a difference either.

When Yami asked to be let out, Yuugi was more than glad to relinquish control on the body. The trouble was, it didn't look like anyone here was in the mood for playing around.

Yami had been right the other day in the librairy. Pai, whose two eyes of just a moment ago were conspicuously normal, was changing into a completely different person. Her third eye opened, and her entire bearing changed. Instead a happy, innocent girl was an angry, powerful demoness. This seemed to be a great relief to Yakumo.

"Long time, no see, kid." the man greeted Yakumo.

"Benares." Yakumo spat out the name apprehensively.

"How long has it been, exactly? Eleven, twelve years?" continued Benares. "I hope you've improved, boy. If you haven't gotten better for a decade, my faith in progress will be severely diminished."

The demoness snorted. If that brute believed in progress, Yakumo's nephew was an ape.

"Would you be so kind, my Wu?" inquired Parvati.

"What about them?" Yakumo gestured toward the humans. The moment he attacked, he knew would be the signal for the other demons to attack. If he tried to fight the lesser demons in order to enable his charges to escape, he left Benares free to attack whomever he pleased. If he tried to fight Benares, the lesser demons would tear his charges to pieces. He doubted he could win against Benares. He also doubted he could win against so many lesser demons. Luckily, he knew he had his 'superior' on his side.

He looked over to the three-eyed demoness. She winked, and glanced pointedly at Benares. Take care of Benares. Leave the rest to me.

Kagome looked around her. Everywhere, demons. Apparently, the demons were all of the same species. They all looked like giant, humanoid one-eyed ant-eaters, other than Yakumo, Pai and the man called Benares, who looked human. Anzu and Jounouchi seemed to be trying hard not to burst into hysterics. Yuugi... Yami, she corrected herself, Yami looked grim, as though determined to get his friends through this, one way or another.

"Wish you had a card up your sleeve?" Kagome asked him weakly.

"This isn't poker!" Yami complained. "No one's in the mood for games." he continued grimly.

"Can't you do that Shadow Game thing without an actual game?" insisted the miko.

"I've never tried. I doubt Yuugi would approve, though." continued Yami. "What about you? Can't you create a ward or something?"

"I don't know how. I know my predecessor did something similar. But she was trained to be a priestess her whole life. I never listened when my grandfather told me all those old legends... I wish I had a bow and arrows..." Kagome answered.

"Then try anyway!" Anzu interrupted. "You and Yuugi, try it!"

"But don't do anything stupid." Jounouchi cautioned.

"This from the boy who put his foot in a shoe he thought had a scorpion in it." Anzu commented. "What are you gonna do? Attempt to fight those demons barehanded?"

Yakumo charged. He threw a homemade grenade toward Benares, which exploded. While the immortal was still recovering from the shock, he tackled the more powerful man, palm on chest, and shouted: "In the name of Yakumo the Wu, I call upon you, To Chyao!"

Most of the others were lucky. Parvati started tearing through the cannon fodder as if it was nothing but slabs of meat, ripping out tongues, gouging nasty holes with the help of a dragon-head staff. The four humans followed in her wake. Jounouchi was holding his own against one of the demon. Barely. But while he was holding it off, Anzu was not so lucky. A wild blow hit her on the neck and broke it. She suffered a painful, but mercifully short death. Dead before hitting the ground.

Kagome and Yami shuffled around, dodging attacks by a hair's breadth each time, until they were aware of a magic sphere that was shielding them from the demons. That was when they realized that Anzu was not with them. They looked around... And saw Anzu's corpse on the ground a few feet away.

At first Yami couldn't believe it. How quick and sudden! How anticlimactic. Anzu was gone, and she never had a chance! Anger and grief gripped Yami. This was a matter of life and death. Anzu's demise had proved it.

He picked a target. Illusions played havoc with the mind of one unlucky demon. Disoriented, it found death at the hands of a pissed off Parvati.

Parvati was going on a bloody rampage. A demon who had been just about to attack Jounouchi, got clubbed under the chin by her dragon-head staff. "You fool!" she snarled, "Get in the shield! And duck!" she clubbed another demon over Jounouchi's shoulder.

"But I can't do anything in there!" protested Jounouchi, as he dealt an ineffectual kick to a nearby demon.

"You're nothing but a street brawler! You want to end up like your little friend?" the three-eyed demoness spared a moment to indicate Anzu's body, all the while still fighting.

"No! But I ain't gonna get killed!" Jounouchi answered.

"Get in the shield, you pathetic little worm, or you'll find out I'm a lot worse than a bunch of Naoshikai!" snarled the woman savagely. Jounouchi stumbled, and scrambled back to the safety of the force-field spell.

Kagome looked faint. "I've never seen such a vicious fighting style." observed of the demoness a girl whose love interest could rip a person's heart out with his bare hands. "I don't think that's her full power though."

"That's NOT her full power?" Jounouchi goggled at the number of demon corpses strew on the ground.

"She's not using any magic. But we know she's capable; what do you think is protecting us?" explained Kagome.

"Feiyo!" the Sanjiyan called. Moments later what looked like a giant, flying, gray-hided worm with an eye in its mouth flew on to the scene, and joined in the bloodbath.

"And THAT'S not her full power?" Jounouchi continued, almost hysterically.

"If only I knew how to ward... I think she's concentrating her magic on keeping this shield around us." continued Kagome.

* * *

Inuyasha was not in a good mood. He smelled Sanjiyan, and that was impossible. The Sanjiyan had been all been killed three hundred years ago, every woman, child and man. The sole survivor was sealed away, hopefully never to return. He also smelled the stench of death, many times over. In other words, he smelled Wu. Since a Wu's life was tied to a Sanjiyan, there could only be one Wu left alive, and that Wu, Inuyasha knew from experience, was a nasty piece of work. Needless to say, this was not good.

More irritating still, was the other scent... The woman's scent that was familiar, but that Inuyasha just couldn't place, and that he had a feeling he should remember... That was what really bugged him. At least, the other scents he knew exactly what they meant. And anyone who associated with Benares and Kaiyanwang, the banes of the daiyoukai's collective existence ought to be someone to remember.

And now, Inuyasha was picking up another scent, no, a stench. A stink of human and demon blood, and Naoshikai... It seemed the Sanjiyan and his Wu had a fight on their hands. Inuyasha wished that the Sanjiyan would be killed, although he knew it was too much to hope. He made his way toward the battle. Maybe, he could take advantage of the confusion to kill Kaiyanwang... It was strange, though. Hadn't the Naoshikai been on Kaiyanwang's side during the war that wiped out the Sanjiyan and decimated the daiyoukai, three hundred years ago? Interesting. This situation was very interesting.

* * *

Yakumo was in the middle of a very frustrating fight. Oh, he'd gotten better since the last time he'd fought Benares and he was actually holding his own, no mean feat for someone who only had sixteen years of experience against Benares' hundreds, maybe even thousands, and had been literally ripped to pieces the last time. But no matter what he did, Benares still kept on fighting. Yakumo knew from experience cutting off body parts wouldn't work, and was even dangerous. Yakumo recalled the time fifteen or sixteen years ago, when a demon cut off his head, and he'd just gone on fighting. It had been very unpleasant being headless. And then there was the time when one of his hands had been cut off while holding a sword, and he was able to levitate the hand so it attacked an offending demon, even without it being attached to its body.

What worried him about the problem at hand was that it was only a matter of time until Benares decided to bring out the big guns, in other words, attacks not designed for subtlety, that could turn skyscrapers into so much dust. Yakumo also knew from experience Benares possessed such spells. Yakumo didn't possess any similar spells of his own, and yet that was really the trick in trying to take down a Wu. So much dust was much harder to regroup then an arm, or a leg. And it had taken three days to stick his head back onto his body.

Feiyo, Parvati's gargantuan flying armored worm, and herself were kicking ass, Jounouchi yelling warnings and encouragements. Yami and Yuugi hadn't said or done anything since Anzu's untimely demise, except pick and choose victims to drive insane. Kagome was trying to cast barriers.

It was then that Benares chose to do it. A huge blast engulfed the alley. The Sanjiyan's demon wisely flew away. The rest of the group didn't fare so well. Taken by surprise, the Sanjiyan lost control of the ward she'd cast around Jounouchi, Yuugi and Kagome. It transferred and fortified itself into a ward that covered herself. As this was happening, luckily, Kagome panicked. Desperation gave her strength she would not otherwise have mustered and she managed to cast a new ward upon herself, Yami and Jounouchi. Yakumo didn't have a chance, but then, he didn't need a chance.

It was a huge explosion. When the explosion passed, drained of their strength, the Sanjiyan and Kagome fell unconscious. But they weren't out of danger yet. Shrapnel was still flying everywhere. A huge, sharp shard of trash can stabbed Jounouchi's stomach. Jounouchi looked dazedly at the offending metal, and fainted from loss of blood.

Yami looked, shocked, at Jounouchi's prone body. The life was slipping away from his friend so quickly he could almost see it.

"No." he whispered. "No. I will NOT lose another one." he said in determination.

Yuugi practically shoved Yami at the back of his mind. Denial and despair warred in both their minds. A tiny bit of shrapnel grazed the cheek. As if this was the trigger, denial and despair called a truce and tied.

"NO!"

The golden eye symbol made itself visible on Yuugi's forehead.

Jounouchi's soul left his body just as the last of his life did.

Jounouchi's soul entered the golden eye symbol on Yuugi's forehead in a burst of golden light.

Yuugi fainted.

Benares was gone.

* * *

_Author's notes: Okay, I know the whole "NOOOOOOO" thing is kinda cliche, but what was I supposed to do? Make him dance around and yell VICTORY? Listen, whether or not I like Anzu, I have to admit that Yuugi truly loved her. Besides, its not like I had Benares go: 'Yuugi... I AM YOUR FATHER!" Although now that I think of it, it could actually be true; after all, nothing is ever mentioned about Yuugi's father. Yuugi's grandfather, Yuugi's mother, sure, they appear in the manga, but never his father... Now THERE'S an idea..._


	4. Opposition

Disclaimer: 3x3 Eyes, Inuyasha and Yu-gi-oh aren't mine. Author's Notes: Wait... I just realized! 3x3 Eyes is dated! It's 1992 at the end of the Howasho/Pa-bo story arc... Oh, screw that, let's say it took eleven years for Pai to come back. I'll change the chapters accordingly. And because Yu-gi-oh and Inuyasha aren't dated, I can just ignore the fact that the first episodes appeared in Shonen Jump and Shonen Sunday respectively seven and five years ago.  
I'm dreadfully sorry for all you people who haven't heard of one or the other of these series. I've got to admit, I made a lamentable attempt at describing all these characters and establishing the story. I'll try and remedy to this as best as I deem necessary.  
Ramble: Yami is a ham. You probably already knew this. In the anime, he's even more so. He's overly dramatic to the point of ridicule. This is also apparent in the manga. In manga six, he does that whole incredibly cheesy 'I'm seriously angry, now, watch me take off my shirt and kick your ass' routine. He doesn't figuratively kick the guy's ass, but his monster fighter kicks the other monster fighter's ass. I hoot appreciatively every time I flip onto that part, even though it was only his uniform shirt he stripped, he still had the sleeveless top with lots of leather buckles on. What do you call that thing, anyway? The S.T.L.O.L.B?  
Incidentally, you know the random thug Kaiba uses Obelisk soldier against? The guy with the spiky blond hair and black spider shirt? He looks and is dressed exactly like the thug Yami takes his shirt off for in manga six... I thought this was just an anime mistake, and yet the evil clone is there in manga 18 as well, getting his Magic and Wizards-playing ass kicked by Kaiba... But I thought the Shadow Game Yami played with this guy killed him? At the very least, it would have left a plastic scar. Maybe they're twins. But you'd think that after seeing what happened to his brother, the twin would stay away from super-gamers like Yuugi and Kaiba.  
A Trio of Demons Chapter 3: Opposition From the height of his eighth story apartment, Inuyasha caught a whiff of a familiar scent. At least, it seemed familiar, but the white-haired half-dog-demon couldn't quite place it. After four hundred years of life, you tended to forget scents that weren't recent, but he berated himself for forgetting this one: he had the feeling it was important. It was a human woman's scent... Smelled rather nice, too, Inuyasha thought, but through four hundred years of practice, he perished the thought. No. The last time he found himself caring for a woman, she'd gone and disappeared. Said girl, Kagome was a girl from what was at the time a distant future, who freed him from a fifty year long sleep, when he was pinned to a tree. She had come to his time by way of a well, a passageway between their two times. She was the reincarnation of the woman who had imprisoned him, fifty years before, a woman he had also loved, and whom he believed had betrayed him. That woman, Kikyou, had been a powerful priestess, and he realized Kagome had remarkable power as well. He let himself fall for Kagome, and she came to him one day, and told him goodbye, and it sounded so final... But that didn't matter anymore. He'd gone through the well to her time mere hours after her, and he'd found her home a barren land roaming with bright yellow metal monsters. Those unnatural-looking fiends! They ate Kagome! Inuyasha beat them all to a pulp, but there was no bringing back Kagome. For a few years afterward, Inuyasha had jumped every time he caught an even slightly similar scent to Kagome's, but it was wasted heart pounding. When he finally accepted the fact that Kagome was never coming back, he'd dedicated himself more than ever to his old aspiration of becoming a full-blooded demon, by seeking the Shikon no Tama, shattered into multiple pieces.  
There were other scents in the air... That of his older half-brother, the full-blooded dog-demon Sesshoumaru, who for years had been a bitter enemy, who had been constantly fighting him for a sword that he couldn't use, but who now worked together with him in a demon-extermination society. And the scent of Shippou, a kitsune Inuyasha and Kagome had met when he was just a boy, but who now had grown into his full powers. And another old smell, too human to be that of a normal demon's, but too demonic to be that of a half-breed... But that was impossible. At any rate, it bore investigating.  
Inuyasha got up, walked inside, and unhooked the red suit from the coat hanger. It was old, an antique. If it hadn't been magic, it would have long disintegrated. It had been with him for four hundred years, and was very worn, but the material was woven out of spun fire rat fur, and was a cloth even more resistant than armor. Before heading out the door, he wrote a note.  
"Saw something strange, went out to investigate. Inuyasha." He stuck the note on the apartment door, grabbed the old rusted katana, wrapped it up in cloth, and left the building.  
"Yuugi!" Pai called cheerfully, running ahead of Yakumo, to catch up to Yuugi. Yakumo bopped his head. Though adorable, Pai was not subtle, and the art of passing unnoticed and acting like you don't know someone was lost on her. Now, normally, Yakumo wouldn't mind, but seeing as Pai and he were walking demon-targets, Yakumo didn't want any innocent bystanders, like Yuugi's friends, to get hurt. Not only had too many of his OWN friends been placed in mortal danger by merely being associated with him, but placing Yuugi's friends in danger was not good for the deal he expected to strike with the boy. The Wu sighed. Well, he had better join the Sanjiyan.  
Yuugi was surrounded by friends, new and old. Jounouchi, Anzu and Kagome were there. This was why Yami was not pleased to see Pai.  
Kagome sensed powerful youki. Wishing for the first time in a long while she had accepted her grandfather's offer to teach her to make ofuda, she turned around, half expecting a huge demon to lunge for Shikon no Tama fragments she no longer had, only to see a girl and a boy who seemed to be her age threading their way through the crowd after her group. She noticed Jounouchi, Anzu and Yuugi had turned around too, but with none of the apprehension she felt. If only they could sense demons too.  
"Who are your friends, Yuugi?" Kagome asked dryly. "Do you know they're demons?" she whispered, as they got closer.  
"Yami wouldn't put it past them." Yuugi muttered back. "And you?" retorted the miko.  
"I take people at face value, and I like to give them the benefit of the doubt." Yuugi commented. "Relax, Kagome, they're harmless. Meet Yakumo Fuji and Pai. Yakumo is the guy who offered to help Yami regain his memory"  
The aforementioned couple finally caught up to Yuugi's group.  
"Pai is so surprised to see you in the street. It's very funny that we meet like this!" Pai gushed.  
"I'm sorry about this." Yakumo apologized. "We should stay away from your friends, Yuugi, it's not safe for them. If things turn ugly, I'd just as soon only three people were involved than half a dozen"  
"Things turn ugly?" Jounouchi asked. "Is that a threat"  
"The supernatural attracts the supernatural. You should know that by now, especially after events concerning that Pegasus person. Similarly, demons attract demons, isn't that right, Fuji-san?" explained Kagome dryly. Lord knew she'd seen enough demons to justify that claim. Even when she hadn't been up against Naraku. "I'm wondering whether you're just trying to get the Shikon shard embedded in his puzzle?" she hinted darkly.  
"Shikon shard?" five voices proclaimed their innocence.  
"You mean you don't know about the Shikon no Tama?" Kagome asked the two demons incredulously. "That's a relief"  
"What is it?" Yakumo inquired.  
"I'm convinced. You're good demons." Kagome didn't answer Yakumo's question.  
"You're not normal, either." Yakumo acknowledged. "How did you know we were demons"  
At this point, Jounouchi was getting freaked out in a bad way. The occult had always spooked him, and the atmosphere of this meeting was starting to feel like that of a horror movie. Jounouchi didn't like horror movies. Still... It was hard to believe Yakumo and Pai, of all people, could be demons. They looked so ordinary. And Pai seemed too naive and innocent... Kagome was spooking him too. She was clearly not what she had appeared to be earlier. What kind of crowd had he fallen into?  
"I have miko powers. I can sense these things." Kagome explained. "I've seen my share of battles against demons. I'd like to help"  
Yakumo blinked. "Just a moment ago, you were acting suspicious, and now you want to help"  
Kagome nodded. "I'm convinced you have, if not noble intentions, then innocent ones, because you told him quite plainly it served your purpose to help him regain his memory, which means you're being honest, and second, because the fact that you don't know what the Shikon no Tama is means you're obviously not using him to get his Shikon shard"  
"It's valuable?" asked Yuugi curiously.  
"Only to demons." answered Kagome. "Look. I know you don't want anyone else involved in your little romp, for whatever purpose. However, considering the fact that Yuugi's pendant is connected to both him and his past, and that in it is embedded a shard of the Shikon no Tama, and that by your own admission you've never heard of it before, you're going to need my knowledge. Besides, I've dealt with demons before, and I'm not completely helpless against them"  
Yuugi was bewildered. "Kagome... If what you say is true, you know what you're getting into... Why"  
Kagome smiled almost sadly. "Apparently, I'm the reincarnation of the priestess who guarded the Shikon no Tama four hundred years ago. In a way, it's my duty"  
The group turned into an alleyway, which was a bad move. Someone was waiting.  
He was an imposing man, tall with a powerful build, dressed in a leather jacket, and army pants. He had red eyes with white slits for pupils. High cheekbones and a long, straight nose lent the man a rather haughty air, though he had good reason to be. He wore a self-confident smirk. The Chinese character for 'void' was displayed in full view upon his forehead, the mark of a Wu.  
Yakumo got to the front of the group. "Get out of here." he hissed to them. "All of you, get the hell out of here"  
Anzu turned to run first, but found her exit blocked by a score of low-level demons. Not that it mattered that they were low-level. Yakumo couldn't protect everyone, and Jounouchi, Yuugi and Anzu certainly didn't know how to defend themselves against even the weakest of demons. From the expression on Kagome's face, Anzu judged, despite what she said earlier about not being completely helpless, it didn't look like the miko was going to make much of a difference either.  
When Yami asked to be let out, Yuugi was more than glad to relinquish control on the body. The trouble was, it didn't look like anyone here was in the mood for playing around.  
Sanjiyan are schizophrenic. Pai was no exception to that rule. HER other personality, referred to only as the Sanjiyan, being less polite than Yami, just invited herself out, to Yakumo's great relief. A third eye opened on Pai's forehead.  
"Long time, no see, kid." the man greeted Yakumo.  
"Benares." Yakumo spat out the name apprehensively.  
"How long has it been, exactly? Eleven, twelve years?" continued Benares.  
"The first time we met, you said that a fight between Wu was a waste of time... The second time we met, you beat me to a pulp. Why the sudden change of heart?" asked Yakumo.  
"Circumstances were different." Benares commented. "Go on; that stalling of yours is extremely entertaining"  
"The first time, I was too weak for you to bother with. The second time, I was a third rate beast mage. Not powerful enough to scratch you but powerful enough to cause some damage to your plans." Yakumo sneered.  
"The first time, you hadn't devised your plan yet. There was no point in killing us. Then you figured my power might be useful in reviving Kaiyanwang. That's why you fought him the second time. You were using him as leverage to get what you wanted from Howasho. Now how have circumstances changed?" asked the Sanjiyan, joining in the bantering.  
"Do you need to ask? I hope your Wu has improved, Lady Parvati. If he hasn't gotten better for a decade, my faith in progress will be severely diminished." replied Benares, addressing the Sanjiyan.  
The Sanjiyan snorted. If that brute believed in progress, he would have given up reviving Kaiyanwang, the Sanjiyan bonded to him, and would-be world conqueror, a long time ago.  
"Would you be so kind, my Wu?" inquired the Sanjiyan.  
"What about them?" Yakumo gestured toward the humans. The moment he attacked, he knew would be the signal for the other demons to attack. If he tried to fight the lesser demons in order to enable his charges to escape, he left Benares free to attack whomever he pleased. If he tried to fight Benares, the lesser demons would tear his charges to pieces. He doubted he could win against Benares. He also doubted he could win against so many lesser demons. Luckily, he knew he had the Sanjiyan on his side.  
He looked over to the three-eyed demon. She winked, and glanced pointedly at Benares. Take care of Benares. Leave the rest to me. I'll call reinforcements.  
Kagome looked around her. Everywhere, demons. Apparently, the demons were all of the same species. They all looked like giant, humanoid one-eyed ant-eaters, other than Yakumo, Pai and the man called Benares, who looked human. Anzu and Jounouchi seemed to be trying hard not to burst into hysterics. Yuugi... Yami, she corrected herself, Yami looked grim, as though determined to get his friends through this, one way or another.  
"Wish you had a card up your sleeve?" Kagome asked him weakly.  
"Unfortunately, I can see well as you this isn't a game." Yami answered grimly.  
"Do you NEED to win some sort of game to kill or drive insane?" insisted the miko.  
"I've never tried. I doubt Yuugi would approve, though." continued Yami. "What about you? Can't you create a ward or something"  
"I don't know how. I know my predecessor did something similar. But she was trained to be a priestess her whole life. I never listened when my grandfather told me all those old legends... I wish I had a bow and arrows..." Kagome answered.  
"Then try anyway!" Anzu interrupted. "You and Yuugi, try it"  
"But don't do anything stupid." Jounouchi cautioned.  
"This from the boy who put his foot in a shoe he thought had a scorpion in it." Anzu commented. "What are you gonna do? Attempt to fight those demons barehanded"  
Yakumo charged. He threw a homemade grenade toward Benares, which exploded. While the immortal was still recovering from the shock, he tackled the more powerful man, palm on chest, and shouted: "In the name of Yakumo the Wu, I call upon you, To Chao"  
Anzu never had a chance. She was ripped to shreds by a wayward demon's claws and suffered a painful, but mercifully short death.  
Anger and grief gripped Yami. This was a matter of life and death. Anzu's demise had proved it. Yami-induced illusions played havoc with the mind of Anzu's murderer. It died suddenly in much the same way as its victim.  
The Sanjiyan had Kagome and Yami in a shield spell. She herself was not within the shield though. In fact, she was going on a bloody rampage. A demon who had been just about to attack Jounouchi, got clubbed under the chin by her dragon-head staff. "You fool!" she snarled, "Get in the shield! And duck!" she clubbed another demon over Jounouchi's shoulder.  
"But I can't do anything in there!" protested Jounouchi, as he dealt an ineffectual kick to a nearby demon.  
"You're nothing but a street brawler! You want to end up like your little friend?" the three-eyed demon spared a moment to indicate Anzu's bloody, pulpy remains, all the while still fighting.  
"No! But I ain't gonna get killed!" Jounouchi answered.  
"Get in the shield, you pathetic little worm, or you'll find out I'm a lot worse than a bunch of Naoshikai!" snarled the woman savagely. Jounouchi stumbled, and scrambled back to the safety of the force-field spell.  
"She's not using her full power." observed Kagome of the Sanjiyan. "Although I have to say, that viciousness of hers is effective"  
"That's NOT her full power?" Jounouchi goggled at the number of demon corpses strew on the ground.  
"She's not using any magic. But we know she's capable; what do you think is protecting us?" explained Kagome.  
"Feiyo!" the Sanjiyan called. Moments later what looked like a giant, flying, gray-hided worm with an eye in its mouth flew on to the scene, and joined in the bloodbath.  
"And THAT'S not her full power?" Jounouchi continued, almost hysterically.  
"So she got reinforcements." Kagome said mildly. "If only I knew how to ward... I think she's concentrating her magic on keeping this shield around us"  
Inuyasha was not in a good mood. He smelled Sanjiyan, and that was impossible. The Sanjiyan had been all been killed three hundred years ago, every woman, child and man. The sole survivor was sealed away, hopefully never to return. He also smelled the stench of death, many times over. In other words, he smelled Wu. Since a Wu's life was tied to a Sanjiyan, there could only be one Wu left alive, and that Wu, Inuyasha knew from experience, was a nasty piece of work. Needless to say, this was not good.  
More irritating still, was the other scent... The woman's scent that was familiar, but that Inuyasha just couldn't place, and that he had a feeling he should remember... That was what really bugged him. At least, the other scents he knew exactly what they meant. And anyone who associated with Benares and Kaiyanwang, the banes of the daiyoukai's collective existence ought to be someone to remember.  
And now, Inuyasha was picking up another scent, no, a stench. A stink of human and demon blood, and Naoshikai... It seemed the Sanjiyan and his Wu had a fight on their hands. Inuyasha wished that the Sanjiyan would be killed, although he knew it was too much to hope. He made his way toward the battle. Maybe, he could take advantage of the confusion to kill Kaiyanwang... It was strange, though. Hadn't the Naoshikai been on Kaiyanwang's side during the war that wiped out the Sanjiyan and decimated the daiyoukai, three hundred years ago? Interesting. This situation was very interesting.  
Yakumo was in the middle of a very frustrating fight. Oh, he'd gotten slightly better since the last time he'd fought Benares and he was actually holding his own, no mean feat for someone who'd rusted for a dozen years, and even un-rusted, had been literally ripped to pieces the last time. But no matter what he did, Benares still kept on fighting. Yakumo knew from experience cutting off body parts wouldn't work, and was even dangerous. Yakumo recalled the time fifteen or sixteen years ago, when a demon cut off his head, and he'd just gone on fighting. It had been very unpleasant being headless. And then there was the time when one of his hands had been cut off while holding a sword, and he was able to levitate the hand so it attacked an offending demon, even without it being attached to its body.  
What worried him about the problem at hand was that it was only a matter of time until Benares decided to bring out the big guns, in other words, attacks not designed for subtlety, that could turn skyscrapers into so much dust. Yakumo also knew from experience Benares possessed such spells. Yakumo didn't possess any similar spells of his own, and yet that was really the trick in trying to take down a Wu. So much dust was much harder to regroup then an arm, or a leg. And it had taken three days to stick his head back onto his body.  
Feiyo, the Sanjiyan's gargantuan flying armored worm, and the Sanjiyan herself were kicking ass, Jounouchi yelling warnings and encouragements. Yami and Yuugi hadn't said or done anything since Anzu's untimely demise. Kagome, having decided that the Sanjiyan had her fight in the bag, concentrated her attention on Yakumo.  
It was then that Benares chose to do it. A huge blast engulfed the alley. The Sanjiyan's demon wisely flew away. The rest of the group didn't fare so well. Taken by surprise, the Sanjiyan lost control of the ward she'd cast around Jounouchi, Yuugi and Kagome. It transferred and fortified itself into a ward that covered herself. As this was happening, luckily, Kagome forgot her lack of training. She instinctively cast a new ward upon herself, Yami and Jounouchi. Yakumo didn't have a chance, but then, he didn't need a chance.  
It was a huge explosion. When the explosion passed, drained of their strength, the Sanjiyan and Kagome fell unconscious. But they weren't out of danger yet. Shrapnel was still flying everywhere. A huge, sharp shard of trash can stabbed Jounouchi's stomach. Jounouchi looked dazedly at the offending metal, and fainted from loss of blood.  
Yami looked, shocked, at Jounouchi's prone body. The life was slipping away from his friend so quickly he could almost see it.  
"No." he whispered. "No. I will NOT lose another one." he said in determination.  
Yuugi practically shoved Yami at the back of his mind. Denial and despair warred in both their minds. A tiny bit of shrapnel grazed the cheek. As if this was the trigger, denial and despair called a truce and tied.  
"NNNNNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO"  
The golden eye symbol made itself visible on Yuugi's forehead.  
Jounouchi's soul left his body just as the last of his life did.  
Jounouchi's soul entered the golden eye symbol on Yuugi's forehead in a burst of golden light.  
Yuugi fainted.  
Benares was gone.  
Author's notes: Okay, I know the whole "NOOOOOOO" thing is kinda cliche, but what was I supposed to do? Make him dance around and yell VICTORY? Listen, whether or not I like Anzu, I have to admit that Yuugi truly loved her. Besides, its not like I had Benares go: 'Yuugi... I AM YOUR FATHER!" Although now that I think of it, it could actually be true; after all, nothing is ever mentioned about Yuugi's father. Yuugi's grandfather, Yuugi's mother, sure, they appear in the manga, but never his father... Now THERE'S an idea... 


	5. Resurrection

_Disclaimer: 3x3 Eyes belongs to Yuzo Takada, Inuyasha belongs to Rumiko Takahashi and Yu-gi-oh belongs to Kazuki Takahashi, may they be worshiped and veneered for their brilliance._

_Author's Notes: Finally, it's the fourth chapter. I have to be careful now, because it's always around this point where I get writer's block or just slow down._

_A small piece of information: daiyoukai means greater demon, more specifically, beings such as Sesshoumaru and his father._

_**A Trio of Demons**_

_Chapter 4: Resurrection_

On the top of a nearby building, Inuyasha turned toward his destination to witness a golden light. Just when he thought the whole thing was over! He raced to the scene.

Bits of metal, garbage, and debris littered the alley, as well as many bodies, of which only six seemed human. Two were intact. One had some cuts and bruises, but nothing really serious. Three more were dead. The overpowering stench of death and barbecue covered everything. Inuyasha felt rather impotent without his nose. Then, he noticed something: two of the dead human bodies weren't really bodies, but more akin to well done steaks, just like all the Naoshikai bodies... Disgusting. The strange thing was, one of them, the male one, looked like it was healing itself, reforming itself. As Inuyasha watched, the steak became raw, the burns went from a charred third degree, to a white, bubbly second degree, to a raw, red first degree, grew hair that previously had been nothing but ashes, dark hair. The half-demon growled, not liking this one bit. Sure enough, the steak had healed into a perfectly healthy person, conspicuously NOT DEAD.

Inuyasha thought the only Wu left alive had been Benares. This person obviously wasn't Benares. But the formerly dead man was a Wu. And if he was alive, this meant that his Sanjiyan was alive and well nearby, too. Possibly one of the other people in this alley. On a whim, he looked at the other dead man for a moment. Perhaps he was still alive. Inuyasha decided to take the metal shard out of that body. That done, the boy started bleeding all over the place. Strange. If he was dead, the youth shouldn't be bleeding at all. Suspiciously, Inuyasha brushed the sandy blond hair off the body's forehead, and started. Okay, this was getting weird.

* * *

The years had not marked Sesshoumaru physically very much, albeit that he now looked to be in his late twenties. The times had changed him more than his age: he now had to hide the markings on his face, a tedious exercise. His two swords, the Tenseiga, made from his father's fang and capable of returning the dead to the living, and the Toukijin, the sword forged from the horn of a demon who had managed to break the Tetsusaiga, Inuyasha's sword, he still kept with him at all times, though now, like Inuyasha, he had to carry them wrapped in cloth, so as not to attract the attention of the law.

Four hundred years ago, in the historic period of Japan known to us now as the Sengoku Jidai, the Warring States era, he had coveted the Tetsusaiga, and had fought Inuyasha many times for the right to wield it. However, it was not meant to be his. Instead of the destructive sword, the Tetsusaiga, he, arrogant and uncaring being that he was, had inherited from his father the Tenseiga, the sword that could bring people back to life. Even now, the irony of it all was a bitter-sweet taste in his mouth. He'd had precious little use for the weapon. But time and time again, as he had struggled to control his brother's blade, he realized it really wasn't meant to be his. In any case, he was as powerful without it as Inuyasha with it. He really didn't need it, in the end. Still, it sometimes hurt.

To go all the way to cooperating with his brother had demanded a lot of effort, however it was worth it, and however much he refused to admit it, it coupled with the advancing times, had changed him. Inuyasha, of course, had always been a misfit. He was too human to be youkai, and too youkai to be human. He was not 'good' in the traditional sense of the term: he was not indifferent to power, for instance, having aspired, and still aspiring to be a full-youkai. However, Inuyasha, in continuing to thwart Sesshoumaru despite being a half-breed, forced the older brother into acquiring a certain humility he hadn't had before. Being with Inuyasha had helped Sesshoumaru accept the exploitation of his lands by humans, if only because he now had someone to take his frustrations out on.

He and Shippou had gotten a call from a potential client, and had just met said client. The man hadn't really understood what demon-exterminator implied. He'd thought Sesshoumaru was an assassination contractor. He and Shippou had had to fight their way out of a literal army of bodyguards. And the daiyoukai was irritated.

Whenever Sesshoumaru was in this mood, it put Shippou on edge. The kitsune knew his partner since he was just a child, but at the time, Sesshoumaru was on the other side. Being attacked by an insanely strong dog-demon could leave its mark on one, even after four hundred years. Strangely, Inuyasha had been picking on him for those four hundred years as well, and still Shippou was not the slightest bit afraid of the half-demon, in fact, he was even less afraid of the half-demon, now that he was grown up. At least Inuyasha couldn't pick him up by the tail anymore, like he used to. Now Shippou, the kitsune, looked more like he was in his late teens.

The two demons had been calmly walking down the street. Presently, Sesshoumaru stopped, and took a curious whiff of the air.

"Well, well, what do we have here..." he muttered. "Inuyasha got involved in another demon slaughter without us again..."

"What do you care? Inuyasha can take care of himself, and it's not like you have monetary objections. We're in the clear for another few years, at the very least." Shippou asked.

"That's not what I'm objecting to. I like to know what's going on." Sesshoumaru commented. "Besides, what I'm getting smells more like toast than blood. It doesn't smell like Inuyasha did much, which is odd. We'll go see what's up."

* * *

Inuyasha was pulled from his ruminations by his half-brother's voice: "What did you get involved with this time?"

"You're here." Inuyasha commented, turning around to face the two newcomers. "I had no part in the battle that took place here. When I arrived, I saw all the bodies lying around, and nothing, except for that bloody tin shard over there, has been touched. I didn't get involved, but I think we should." he nodded his head in the direction of Kagome's prone body.

"Kagome?" Shippou stared incredulously. "I thought you said she was dead!"

"She might still be dead." pointed out Sesshoumaru.

"No, she's only unconscious. What I'd like to know is what she's doing in a place like this." Inuyasha decided. "We're taking them all home. This smells of Sanjiyan and Wu, and when the Sanjiyan are involved, there's always talk of the war against Kaiyanwang."

"There's always talk of Kaiyanwang, period." Shippou commented grimly. "We know for a fact Benares has been working toward Kaiyanwang's resurrection for a long time."

"Hey, a little help here?" Inuyasha had slung Kagome over his shoulder, and was about to do the same with the blond boy. "I'll carry Bloody if you carry Barbecue." he gestured toward the other formerly dead body.

"Barbecue?" Sesshoumaru asked as he gently picked the other girl, and the seemingly young boy.

"Never mind..." Inuyasha snarled. "Shippou, you gonna help or what?"

* * *

Yakumo woke up with a start. DEMONS! LOTS OF THEM! NEAR! Where was Pai? He had to protect Pai! He looked around frantically. He was sitting up on a blanket that didn't quite soften the floor, in what looked to be a living room. An intact Jounouchi was lying unconscious, hair brushed back from his forehead, in similar bedding conditions, while Yuugi was lying on the couch. He could hear noises of cooking from the kitchen. It was a deceptively calm atmosphere. Where was Pai? Where had the demons taken her?

One of the demons stepped out of the kitchen. It seemed to be a boy in his late teens, shoulder-length, bushy hair tied back in a ponytail. A lanky, ordinary youth, until you saw the fox legs and tail. The demon was wearing an apron on which were written the words 'piyo piyo'. The kitsune was holding a spatula in his right hand.

"Oh, so you're awake." said the demon pleasantly. "I was beginning to think that you really had died. In case you're wondering, the girls are in another room. Kagome-nee-chan and Parvati-sama haven't awoken yet, and we've been letting you sleep. But we're all deeply curious as to what a couple of Wu are doing here in this day and age."

"What have you done with Pai? Is she alright? What are you going to do with us?" Yakumo asked the Kitsune urgently.

The kitsune laughed. "There's no need to worry. We have no diabolical plot or anything of the sort. Lady Parvati is sleeping. She's fine, and we just want to know what's going on. You're all safe from us."

"Us? And who is 'us', exactly?" inquired Yakumo.

"Sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Shippou. You're in the apartment I share with Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru. This is as close to a safe haven as you can get. There are few places safer than a daiyoukai's abode. Now if you'll excuse me, I must get back to breakfast." said the kitsune, and he promptly returned to the kitchen.

Friendly demons. This, while not new, was still a rare occurrence for Yakumo. If that demon who'd started by ripping off his arm counted as 'friendly'. It was food for thought, as was the fact that this Shippou appeared very familiar with Kagome, and seemed reasonably acquainted with Pai.

He turned his attention to Jounouchi and Yuugi, still unconscious. Yuugi seemed thoroughly exhausted, and Yakumo couldn't blame him. The boy had lost Anzu, whom Yakumo understood was one of the boy's closest friends, possibly even more than that.

"So my luck has finally run out, hasn't it?" Yakumo told himself bitterly. That hadn't been the first time he'd put innocent bystanders in danger, though it was the first time any innocent bystanders had died. But why now? Why did it have to be Yuugi's circle of friends that suffered from Yakumo's own mistakes?

Jounouchi woke up, murmuring the overused opening line of: "Where am I?" His awakening was closely followed by that of Yuugi, who, upon noticing Jounouchi, practically fell off his couch and crawled over to the boy.

"Jounouchi, are you alright?" the boy asked urgently.

"I've got a rusty piece of tin in my gut, is that alright to you?" barked Jounouchi hysterically, having remembered what had happened beforehand. He then paused comically, only now realizing he didn't feel any pain, and stared down at the bloody area where he had been impaled. "Oops." he commented sheepishly. Then he lifted his shirt to see what damage had been done. The dried up blood made a crust on his stomach, so it would have been hard to tell a wound. But there wasn't a wound to tell.

"You're... fine..." said a bewildered Yuugi. He poked Jounouchi once or twice, as if he didn't believe his eyes.

"To answer your first question, Jounouchi, we're in a den of demons. Pai and Kagome are in another room. I just spoke to one of the demons, and he tells me we've nothing to fear from them." Yakumo spoke up. "They seemed very familiar with Kagome, and acted like they knew Pai. I don't know what that means, but in any case, we're at their mercy. One of them are daiyoukai. Which one, I don't know, but the fact is that he's very powerful. And by separating me and Pai, they have me at a disadvantage. I'm hoping this doesn't end in another fight... We've had enough death already." at this last remark, Yakumo looked guiltily at Yuugi.

"So how come I'm alive, anyway?" Jounouchi asked. "I oughta be dead right about now. What's up with that?"

"I wouldn't question my luck if I was you." joked Yuugi, but it was half-hearted.

"...And that's the tricky part." added Yakumo. "You're not going to like the answer to that."

"What do you mean?" asked the diminutive teenager.

"I think it's time I explained to you what a Sanjiyan is." started Yakumo. "You both saw Pai back there..."

His companions nodded.

"She's a Sanjiyan. I think they all suffer from Multiple Personality Disorder... But that's not the point. A Sanjiyan is a powerful, ageless three-eyed demon, and each one has the power to grant one person immortality. They do this by taking the person's soul into their own body so that if the Sanjiyan dies, so does the immortal. These immortals are called Wu, and generally serve as their Sanjiyan's bodyguard. I am Pai's Wu. That man I fought was also a Wu. And you, Jounouchi, are also a Wu now."

"I'm a half-dead zombie now!" blurted Jounouchi. "No way! I didn't see any other of these Sanjiyan-demons around! You said that they can only give ONE person immortality!" he protested.

Yakumo brushed his hair from his forehead. "All Wu have the Chinese character for void written on their forehead. Like the one on mine. If you need proof, look in the mirror."

Yuugi pushed Jounouchi's bangs back from his friend's forehead.

"It's not there, is it?" asked the taller boy.

"It's there." answered a confused Yuugi. "But I don't understand."

"I think I do." said Yakumo. "Yuugi, I think you're a Sanjiyan."

"That's impossible. My mother's human. My grandfather's human." protested Yuugi.

"One time, Pai lost her memory, and she came to live with an elderly couple for four years. They took her in because she looked like their dead granddaughter and told her she WAS their granddaughter. When I found her and told her she was a Sanjiyan, she raised the same argument. But don't you think it would explain things? Those powers you have. Your split-personality. Even the fact that your body hasn't aged past the appearance of a twelve-year-old..."

"There's a completely different explanation for that! That's because of my puzzle!" Yuugi brandished his pendant like a talisman. "I solved it, and Yami started coming out! Before that he never was there! And I never had powers! And I'll grow... Soon!"

"But what do you make of Jounouchi then?" asked Yakumo.

"I don't know..."

* * *

"Sounds like they're having a real argument in there..." commented Shippou, as he busily bustled in the kitchen, while Sesshoumaru sat in a chair, reading the paper.

"Anything worth mentioning in the news?" added the kitsune.

"They haven't found the alley fight yet." answered Sesshoumaru.

"They'll have a field day when they find it. The cops will be furious." Shippou grinned. "A completely unsolvable mystery with non-human victims, spontaneous combustion, an explosion... The works."

* * *

Kagome's mind slowly drifted to consciousness. There was something wrong, something vaguely worrying... She wasn't sure what it was. If she couldn't remember, it must not be important... But then sher realized she was sleeping in an unfamiliar bed. Abruptly, she awoke fully. She recalled the events from before she had fallen unconscious, and looked around the room for Pai and Yakumo and Jounouchi and Yuugi and... No, Anzu would still be lying in the alley... Or in a morgue. Pai was there. She was sleeping soundly in a bed propped against the opposite wall from the one Kagome herself was in. She couldn't find the others... Panic gripped her.

And then she was aware of another presence in the room. She had been so concentrated on figuring out where she was, and with whom, she had completely failed to notice the sleeping person sitting on the chair right in front of her. He had white hair, and his clothes were red. They looked like old-fashioned priest's festival robes, and they were very familiar. She let out a cry.

"Inuyasha!"

Her outburst jerked the half-demon out of his sleep, but before he could react, she hugged him fiercely. "I missed you so much! It's been three months! I was afraid I'd never see you again and... And..." she wept.

"Kagome..." whispered a bewildered Inuyasha. Relative to her, it was only three months since they'd seen each other. Relative to him, it was four hundred years. But three months, especially for a human, is plenty enough time to forget. She hadn't forgotten. And she wasn't dead. She was hugging him and crying on him and she said that she had missed him...

Inuyasha didn't get the chance to finish that train of thought.

"Hey! What did you do to Kagome, you bastard!" Jounouchi yelled angrily. He and Yakumo and Yuugi had heard Kagome crying, and the sight of a girl crying in a man's arms leads to many misunderstandings.

"I didn't do anything! She just woke up and started crying!" protested the white-haired man in confusion.

"You don't seriously expect me to believe that, do you!" Jounouchi vociferated incredulously.

"What am I supposed to say other than the truth!" objected Kagome's 'aggressor'.

"Jounouchi..." Kagome dried her tears and tried to get the hiccuping to stop. "It's alright. If he tried to do anything to me, I'm the first one who would protest. Besides," she added, remembering the 'sit'-activated rosary, "he's probably the safest guy for me to be around..."

While all this was going on, Yakumo made a beeline for Pai, who had awoken groggily because of the commotion Inuyasha, Kagome and Jounouchi were making.

"Pai, are you all right?"

"Pai does not understand... Shouldn't Pai be alright?" asked the Sanjiyan.

Yakumo heaved a sigh of relief. Whatever else these demons were, they weren't liars. Kagome and Pai were indeed safe. Well, Pai was unharmed-he glanced at the other four- and he had a feeling that Kagome was intact as well.

"Well, I'm glad that everyone's together again!" interrupted Shippou, who had chosen that moment to reappear, still in his piyo-piyo apron, "And on a completely different note, breakfast is ready, and I'm sure you're all starving."


End file.
